Alonso to start Bahrain test for Ferrari

Fernando Alonso will start Ferrari’s running at the second winter test, which takes place this week at the Bahrain International Circuit.

The Spaniard completed 173 laps of running at the opening test at Jerez and will drive the new F14 T on the opening two days of the second four-day event.

He will then hand the car over to his new team-mate Kimi Raikkonen for Friday and Saturday. The Finn only managed 78 laps at the wheel of the Scuderia’s 2014 challenger after losing track time on the opening two days.

Looking ahead to the test, the team said on its website: “The emphasis over the next four days will be mainly on checking all the systems and control parameters of the F14 T. In addition, the programme will include set-up work, helped by the fact that Sakhir is a more representative circuit for comparing the data obtained over the past few days in the simulator, as well on the tyre front.

“The engineers will also be relying on the expertise of Alonso and Raikkonen to move forward with the development of the car. Finally, great attention will be paid to the behaviour of the 059/3 power unit, which has been the focus of a lot of work in the last few weeks. In fact, the power unit has to be presented to the FIA to be signed off as homologated by 28 February.”

Jack Leslie is a freelance motorsport journalist. He has been part of the Richland F1 team since the very start and made his debut in the F1 paddock for the website at the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix. Jack also writes for Car Throttle and RumbleStripNews, as well as running a popular blog.